FAMOUS “KISSING SAILOR” PHOTO SPARKS TRUE DETECTIVE TALE

Controversy over the future of the kissing “Unconditional Surrender” World War II statue on our downtown waterfront has subsided as donors step up to support a permanent bronze replacement. However, the anonymous couple who inspired it are about to be back in the spotlight.

That statue, or more precisely, the photo that sparked it, is the subject of an upcoming book, “The Kissing Sailor” co-authored by Coronado resident George Galdorisi and Rhode Island history teacher Lawrence Verria.

Galdorisi, a retired naval aviator who also co-wrote the movie-based “Act of Valor” book, has been working on the story behind the famous 1945 V-J Day kiss in Times Square for the past six years. Verria began researching the topic years earlier.

For starters, there is considerable controversy over whether the pose depicted by J. Seward Johnson’s statue on loan in San Diego was modeled, as frequently mentioned, after the famous Life magazine photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Rather, the sculptor’s spokeswoman maintains his statue is based on a picture of the same couple snapped at a slightly different angle by Navy photographer Victor Jorgensen. His photo resides in the public domain and isn’t copyright protected as is Eisenstaedt’s work. However, Jorgensen’s photo doesn’t include the lower legs and feet, which resemble those in the Eisenstaedt pose.

In any event, neither photographer recorded the strangers’ names that day, and their identities have long has been the subject of speculation. Subsequent evaluation by Verria and Galdorisi, along with military and forensic photo ID specialists, has pointed solidly to George Mendonsa as the sailor. (His date that day, now his wife, is partially visible behind him in Eisenstaedt’s photo.)

In 1979, Edith Shain, who died two years ago, wrote a letter to Alfred Eisenstaedt claiming to be the Times Square mystery woman.

While Shain since has been widely referred to as the nurse in the photo, Galdorisi and Verria’s research singles out Greta Zimmer Friedman ﻿as the woman clutched in the spontaneous embrace by George Mendonsa on Aug. 14, 1945.

Over the years, several men and three women have staked a claim. Friedman was one of them. She was even reportedly picked by Mendonsa himself in 1980 when Life magazine asked the real people in the photo to step forward.

“Most weren’t charlatans,” says Galdorisi. “They really thought they were the ones.” After all, it was a chaotic scene in Times Square as the war ended that day, and numerous strangers embraced in impromptu victory hugs.

“But these two people have been denied their due,” Galdorisi says, explaining that Mendonsa had sought recognition for decades. “He even brought a suit against Life magazine, but it became too expensive for him to pursue.”

The authors’ detective work included interviews of claimants, expert photo analysis, identifying people in the background and consultations with forensic anthropologists and facial recognition specialists.

While Shain was a lovely woman, at only 4 feet 10 inches in height, she was just too tiny to be the woman with Mendonsa, or any of the other sailor contenders. In fact, the woman’s uniform is not that of a nurse, but of a dental hygienist, Galdorisi maintains. Because speculation over the mystery embrace fed Life’s photo sales, he theorizes that the magazine didn’t seriously pursue trying to identify the couple.

“We wrote this book so their children and grandchildren can know that it has been proven and these folks can finally get the recognition they deserve,” says Galdorisi. Verria says they both have compelling personal stories that the public should know “before we lose these two national treasures.”

“The Kissing Sailor,” sure to reignite the long simmering identity debate, is being published by the Naval Institute Press, which is filling orders now. It should be in stores by mid-May. Galdorisi is hopeful that Mendonsa and Friedman, both in their late 80s but still in fair health, may soon come to San Diego to see their bigger-than-life statue by the USS Midway Museum.